Dad fractures skull of five-month-old (San Antonio, Texas)

Dad fractures skull of five-month-old (San Antonio, Texas)

Father charged in infant's head injury

By Robert Crowe - Express-News

A 29-year-old South Side man has been charged in connection with head injuries his baby suffered this week, police said.

Leonard Michael Garza remains jailed on a $75,000 bond on a charge of injury to a child-serious bodily injury.

Police said they suspect Garza injured the 5-month-old boy Monday, after the mother left to a restaurant. When the woman returned to the 200 block of Burcham 10 minutes later, Garza told her something had gone wrong with the child, police said.

According to the warrant, Garza had used heroin shortly before the mother stepped out of the home in the 200 block of Burcham.

When she noticed the child appeared to be dying, she asked Garza to call 911. The baby was flown to University Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a skull fracture, police said.
While the mother and other relatives visited the hospital, Garza remained at home and refused to answer phone calls, police said. After relatives gave consent to search the home, police officers found Garza hiding in a closet.

He was arrested on city warrants and jailed before authorities filed the current charge. The boy's mother also was arrested on city warrants. She told authorities that Garza had a history of abusing her and the child, police said.